Why Biden is the best and only choice for 2020

With the world in the global crisis it is now facing, what America needs most is not TLC (Tender Loving Care) – although a dose of that would be welcome.

What America, and for that matter every country in the world,
needs most is a leader its people can Trust, have Confidence in and have Respect
for.

Let me define what I mean by those terms.

Trust

We need someone we can trust to never hurt us – although some of the decisions they make may be painful (hopefully in the short run) – and never take advantage of us to further their own personal, self-serving agendas. Biden may have flaws, but he best fits those criteria.

Trump lies and is so self-serving and demeaning of others, we can’t trust him to not to that to any of us if we even momentarily disagree with him.

We can trust Sanders to believe what he says especially
since he has said it consistently for so long. But his unwavering desire to
being right frequently overtakes he wanting to do the right thing.

Confidence

We need someone who can get things done and has a track record of having done so. That means occasionally having to compromise what they favor rather than making what’s perfect, the enemy of what’s good enough. To do that means not having a “fixed/closed mindset” and not having to be right and win at all costs. When you come from that POV you invite a “zero sum” game where someone always has to lose. Yes, it’s true that Biden went along with some decisions – which did lead to actions – that in hindsight didn’t work out. But – and I may be wrong – it seems to me that he was making the best decision, with the information he had at the time.

It’s true that Sanders may in retrospect have been on the side of history in some of his decisions, but his track record for gaining enough cooperation to get most anything done is questionable.

Now, Trump, to his credit has gotten some things done, but as with all of his decisions, only history will tell whether they were good decisions or not and who they benefited and who they didn’t.

Respect

When we can stop our “get more, sooner,” impatient, pedal-to-the-metal, exciting seeking, boredom avoiding mindsets and admire those who can serve all of those, underneath it all we still respect wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what’s important and what’s not, what’s worth fighting for and what’s not.

Such people also live from non-personally self-serving values that benefit the common good, that they stand for, will stand up for and will stand up against anyone who seeks to violate that. This also requires a long term track record of doing that in actions taken and Biden demonstrates that.

Trump fails on this not so much that his decisions are going against the interests of many American – although they certainly seem to lean towards benefiting the rich and the have’s vs. have not’s – but because he so frequently defaults to everything being about why he is great and why we should agree with that. That may be because Trump so covets being respected – which he doesn’t seem to realize you have to earn – that much of his anger may be fueled by not having – and will never have – the respect from people he wants it from, who he retaliates against through insults (which is never going to earn their respect).

Regarding Sanders, we may respect his unwavering commitment to values and principles to help the majority of non-wealthy Americans. Sanders might in fact agree with Henry Clay in proclaiming, “I’d rather be right than President,.” However, although Clay became President, his words may be presient for what will happen to Sanders, especially when his being right too often is overrun by a self-righteous tone.

In conclusion

It may be that in 2016, the Americans who voted for Trump weren’t looking for someone they trusted or respected, because by that time nobody trusted or respected anyone. Indeed, given all the uncertainty many Americans felt, Trump’s bombastic, unwavering style may have been the most powerful voice to respond to that uncertainty.

Now we have bigger eggs to fry as uncertainty has given way to outright fear that is flirting with panic. With such a world we find ourselves in, the best and only choice we can have trust and confidence in and respect for is Biden.